


After the Big Game

by ChillyHollow



Category: Cormoran Strike Series - Robert Galbraith
Genre: F/M, Knifeplay, Sports
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:34:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22651846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChillyHollow/pseuds/ChillyHollow
Summary: Robin and her friends go to London for the first time; her inquisitive nature leads her into an adventure.
Relationships: Robin Ellacott/Cormoran Strike
Kudos: 10





	After the Big Game

**Author's Note:**

> (I know the World Cup games were not held in England in 2002 but let’s pretend, for the sake of my plot! I don't have Robin’s age quite right either. Sorry. Obviously need more coffee!)

They were all adults now, mostly 18 and 19 (although Sarah was nearly 20) and this was their first foray into London.They were going to see the second World Cup game, where England would play their rival Argentina.Peter’s dad had managed tickets, although they were not very good ones.Still, they would be present at this historical event and they were all really excited.They moved with the huge crowd into the stadium, found their seats, the guys got beers, and everyone settled down to enjoy the spectacle. 

Robin would turn 19 in the fall, so she felt very grown up these days.She knew her parents were nervous about the trip.They’d made her promise she’d stay close to her group.And she, practical as always, was certainly going to do that.She was sitting with Matthew, her boyfriend of nearly three years, and enjoying the game along with all their school friends.They were ecstatic when England won, and poured out of the stadium with everyone else, seeking a pub.

It was the Queen’s Jubilee, so all of London was decorated, cleaned and polished.That didn’t mean all corners of the capital were equally nice, however.The pubs were full to bursting, so the group ended up in a back street in a dark and grimy little bar.The beers were flowing, though, so no one seemed to care.Robin did take a careful look around.Some of the characters in the pub were decidedly dodgy, particularly a muscular guy with a short red beard and tattoos who was sitting in a corner, conducting what Robin was sure was illicit business with a few other men.Two of the men got up and left, leaving the bearded man with just one other man who seemed quite tall but who was in shadow.Robin couldn’t quite see him.And of course with the singing going on in the pub, it was impossible to always hear what anyone was saying next to her, much less in the back corner.

The hour grew later and Robin’s group became drunker.Robin was a little concerned now, but surely with all of them together they would find their way back to their hostel safely.She was a bit relieved when the bearded man clapped his companion on the shoulder and left.That meant the little pub was mostly just her group of friends, a few old pensioners who were drunkenly singing an Arsenal fight song, a group of 50 year old bleached blondes laughing shrilly at their table, and the shadow man.Robin sipped at her lager.She really didn’t like it but the pub had no white wine, so she was coping.At least she wasn’t drinking to excess like everyone else.

A newcomer strode into the bar and nodded at the barkeep, who pushed a fresh draft beer and a full pitcher at him.The new man grabbed the pitcher and mug and headed for the shadow man.He was burly and bald, with a scar on one bare bicep.He looked mean to Robin.She looked away.Her friends were eating bar food and still drinking, not paying any attention to anything or anyone else, but Robin felt tension in the air. Her curiosity got the better of her and she sneaked another look at the men at the table in back.Luckily the bathrooms were just past the corner where the two men were talking.Surely she could just walk over?She hesitated, a bit worried that she was going to be too obvious, and Luck favored her. One of the bleached blondes got up and lurched toward the ladies.Robin followed her. 

As she passed the table where her quarry were talking, she got a good luck at the shadow man.He was tall, with long legs sticking out from under the table.He had a broken nose, broad forehead and curly hair that was a bit too long.He was looking intently at the bald man, but as Robin passed, he looked up at her.She was startled at the intelligence and perception in his gaze.She looked away and continued into the ladies where she took her time, washing her hands, fiddling with her hair, and letting the hard-looking blonde who was there before her leave before Robin took up her confidence and followed. 

She walked out just as the bald man pulled a knife and lunged at the shadow man, who leaned back just in time, but got caught by the knife on the back swing.Robin instinctively grabbed the beer pitcher and brought it down on Baldy’s head.He sprawled on the floor, out cold.The shadow man grabbed his arm where blood was dripping from the cut.Robin took him by his good arm and pulled him into the ladies room where she attempted to staunch the bleeding with cold water and paper towels. 

“Are you all right?” she asked, looking anxiously at his face.He nodded and smiled at her.“Thanks, Red,” he said.And he leaned down and kissed her.Robin, taken totally by surprised, kissed back.They stood there a long time, Robin still pressing a wet paper towel to the cut, the shadow man with his good arm around her, pulling her into his well muscled body, kissing.Robin supposed it was the adrenaline that was making her feel light-headed, but he was a really good kisser.Maybe it was the lager she’d drunk that had her pressing her body to his, arching her back to push her breasts into his chest and lift her face so he could easily kiss her longer and harder.However she couldn’t account for the fact that she had her free hand around his neck, fingers entwined with his curly hair, keeping his face next to hers.He stopped kissing her and they stood, forehead to forehead, his eyes hooded but a slight smile on his face, breathing nearly as hard as she.Robin savored the moment and wished it would never end.

And then the police came.They broke apart, Robin still trying to hold the paper towel in position, his eyes on hers.Robin was taken into the other room, leaving a police sergeant with the shadow man.The bald man was cuffed and being hauled away.She and her friends were interrogated and then hustled away to their hostel by a scolding patrol officer.But as they left the pub, Robin looked back and saw the shadow man and the sergeant smiling at each other.“Undercover," she thought to herself.

Later when her mother asked what London was like, Robin answered “Exciting!” and hugged her memory of the shadow man to herself.She definitely was growing up.Nineteen was going to be a fun time, she just knew it. 


End file.
